


The Transmutation of Hieronymous Wiggenstaff

by Whispering_Nightmares



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Animal Transformation, Backstory, Brotherly Love, Campaign: Graduation (The Adventure Zone), Dog!Hieronymous Wiggenstaff, Gen, Hieronymous is a stereotypical hero, Higglemas Wiggenstaff has low self-esteem, Higglemas idolizes Hieronymous, I really don’t think this is canon compliant anymore, taz: graduation - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:15:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25947196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whispering_Nightmares/pseuds/Whispering_Nightmares
Summary: When Hieronymous is cursed by a demon prince, Higglemas has to make a difficult decision in order to save his brother’s life.(Spoilers for TAZ: Graduation episodes 12-18)
Relationships: Hieronymous Wiggenstaff & Higglemas Wiggenstaff
Kudos: 2





	1. Then

**Author's Note:**

> Back at it again with the animal transformation! I was pretty excited by the dog-brother reveal, and I just KNEW I had to explore it more.

Higglemas didn’t know what to do.

He and Hieronymous had been doing what they had done for centuries—working together as a team to fight back against their adversaries and keep evil at bay. This time, however, the evil they had found themselves up against was _Gray_. Even as they fought, the brothers knew that a demon prince was far beyond the capability of two elves to defeat, regardless of how heroic one of those elves happened to be.

Still, they held their ground as best as they could, slinging spells and swords as they stood back-to-back, but the onslaught of imps, pit fiends, and hell hounds had slowly worn down the pair of brothers as they garnered more and more damage and burned more and more spell slots.

Eventually, Higglemas was running out of spells, running out of energy, running out of body parts that weren’t screaming out in pain or overexertion. He wasn’t as strong as his brother, he’d always known that, and he fell to his knees with self-loathing and defeat. This was it. 

From the ground, lungs heaving, Higglemas watched as his brother still stood on shaky legs, fighting with every ounce of strength left in him as he swung a sword that looked heavier in his grip than it ever had. One more bite from a hound and he also fell, crying out with a weak gasp of pain as the bite left a stream of blood trailing down his thigh, one of many wounds that adorned the battle-wearied hero. The straw that broke the camel’s back. 

This was when Gray himself had intervened, strolling over to the pair with a too-wide smile on his horrible, demonic face as the onslaught suddenly ceased.

“Well, well, well,” he crowed mockingly. “Hieronymous Wiggenstaff, world-famous hero, paragon of strength, idealism, and morality!” He leaned down close to Hieronymous, whose breath was coming in ragged gasps from exertion. “How’s that all working out for you? Is your determination to do _good_ going to give you enough power to defeat me?”

“You…won’t win,” Hieronymous panted, even as his sword fell from his grasp. His usually-strong voice had been weakened but his certainty and resolve had not. In the face of his defeat, he glared defiantly and unafraid into the glowing eyes of the demon prince. “Good _is_ more powerful than evil.”

Gray laughed, loud and _wrong_. The sound of it sent a shudder down Higglemas’ spine. “Oh, you think so, do you?” He asked, his voice low and laced with a threat. He did not pay Higglemas any attention, and as much as the sidekick longed to capitalize on that and attack while the demon was distracted, he just couldn’t bring himself to stand. He could barely bring himself to move. Even if he did manage to draw Gray’s attention, he knew he would be killed on the spot.

Gray straightened up and smiled again, sharp teeth bared in triumph. From their spots on the ground, Hieronymous and Higglemas both watched in confusion and horror as Gray’s demonic appearance melted away into something far too familiar. In a few moments, Hieronymous was staring up into his own face; the only difference between them was the malice in the eyes that looked down at him.

“Goodbye, Hieronymous Wiggenstaff,” Gray said in Hieronymous’ own voice, and he disappeared into a cloud of smoke. In the same moment, Hieronymous screamed out in pain, louder than Higglemas thought he would even have been capable of in his weakened state.

“Hiero!” Higglemas exclaimed, scrambling across the barren forest floor that had been charred with infernal flames. He clasped his brother’s hand in his own and looked him up and down with wide eyes as he tried to see what had caused Hieronymous to react in such a way.

“Higg-” Hieronymous wheezed, writhing in the dirt with tears pricking at his eyes. The agony was too much, so much that he couldn’t even speak. His world was on fire. 

Working quickly, Higglemas cast _Detect Magic_ and flinched back from the strength and fury of the curse that swept off his brother in waves.

“I can’t…Hiero, I can’t break this,” he admitted, shaking his head as he clutched his brother’s hand tighter. His voice broke in desperation and despair. His brother was dying. He didn’t know what to do. 

“Yes, you can,” Hieronymous breathed, looking up at his brother with the sort of stalwart faith that seemed to come so easily to him—the sort of faith that Higglemas had never been able to summon himself. “I believe in you.” 

Suddenly, Higglemas was struck with an idea. It was ridiculous, but he was desperate. Maybe, just maybe it would be enough to save Hieronymous. At the very least, it would buy them a little more time. 

“Okay,” he whispered, holding his shaking hands in the air above his brother. “Okay.” He closed his eyes.

This was going to hurt them both.

Higglemas focused on the threads of the curse, carefully balancing the power of it as he drew some of it into himself. His screams joined his brother’s, but he kept on going. Despite the exhaustion and the pain from the battle they’d just been through, he kept on drawing the demon’s curse into his own body and tried to ignore the way it burned through his veins. He needed to save Hiero. That’s all that mattered.

At last, the balance was struck. The curse had weakened into something Higglemas could work with. Manipulating its power, he wove some magic of his own into it and changed it into something else. As the curse reshaped and transformed, so did his brother. Hieronymous’ cries of pain turned into howls. Then he fell silent.

The only sound in the evening air was the panting of two brothers as Higglemas collapsed, weakened and exhausted, onto the ground. 

“I’m sorry, Hiero,” Higglemas whispered, reaching out to where his brother lay. His voice was creakier than it had been—he sounded like their great-great grandfather. Glancing over to the hand he had outstretched, he saw wrinkles and veins that were much more visible than they had been. “It was all I could do.” He closed his eyes again, lacking the strength to even keep them open any more. There was a shifting beside him and his fingers made contact with long, soft fur. “It was all I could do,” he repeated again before he fell unconscious.

Higglemas didn’t know how long he had been out, but he found himself wincing in the sunlight as he finally came to. Weakly, he pushed himself up into a sitting position on shaking arms and groaned. What had happened?

“Hiero?” He called out, starting at the sound of his own aged voice. His eyes shot open. Gray. The curse. His brother’s dying screams.

Sensing a presence beside him, he glanced down to see a collie curled up at his side in the dirt. At the sound of his name, the dog’s head popped up and he looked up at Higglemas, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Higglemas chuckled as the dog leapt up onto him and licked excitedly at his face, nosing around as he examined his brother to make sure he was okay.

“I’m alright, Hiero, don’t fuss,” he groused as he pushed his brother off of him, but he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face. He would be the first to admit that their situation wasn’t great, but Hieronymous was still alive. He didn’t think he could live in a world where Hieronymous wasn’t still alive.

Higglemas looked down at his brother, who was watching him intently with intelligent eyes. His body might have been that of a dog, but Hieronymous was still in there.

“I’m sorry, I don’t really have a plan beyond this,” Higglemas admitted. His joints popped as he struggled to his feet. He already knew that being old was going to get, well, _old_ pretty fast. “I just did what I could to save you.” Hieronymous nodded in understanding and Higglemas sighed with relief. He almost even started crying. He’d turned his brother into a _dog_ , and he wasn’t angry with him.

“We’ll figure this out, Hiero,” he assured him, giving his brother a scritch on the head as he began to head in the direction of the castle. “Don’t you worry, we’ll figure this out.”


	2. Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fifty years later, Higglemas is beginning to lose hope and Hieronymous is beginning to lose himself.

Nearly fifty years passed, and Higglemas still hadn’t figured it out. 

He couldn’t remember the last time he had left his office; it may have been years. Actually, it may have even been over a decade now. Time was all blurred together for him now and he hadn’t had any reason to leave his office, anyway. The only person he knew he could trust was in there with him, and out _there_ was the demon prince who’d stolen his brother’s face. Higglemas sighed in frustration, his elbows on his desk and his head in his hands as he read through one of his old spell books for the hundredth time, willing new information to suddenly appear on the page before him. Nothing happened.

He glanced over to where Hiero was curled up on a dog bed that Higglemas had conjured for him ages ago. It had been so long since he’d seen Hieronymous proper that he wondered if he’d forgotten some of the subtle differences between the imposter and his brother. The way he looked when he smiled, the sound of his laugh. What he knew he hadn’t forgotten, however, was the warmth, strength, confidence, and _goodness_ that Gray’s paper-thin impersonation couldn’t even hope to capture. Higglemas sighed again and looked back down at the book. Looking at his brother filled him with too much guilt.

If it had been _him_ who’d been cursed, if Hieronymous was the one who was still himself, he would have found a solution by now. Hieronymous was a hero. He always knew what to do. Higglemas…Higglemas was just a sidekick. The best he could do was voice a couple of ideas, but he still relied on the nod or the shake of a head that his brother would give him to know if an idea was worthwhile or not. There had been a lot of head shakes lately. He’d found no possible solutions for so long and his paranoia had been mounting all the while. He was starting to lose hope, and he knew Hiero knew despite how hard he tried to hide it. He wished his brother could speak to him. They’d learned to communicate quite well with one another over the years, but Higglemas knew that Hieronymous must have had ideas about what they should do that he had been unable to voice. 

_I can’t break this_ , he’d said, back when his brother had been cursed.

_Yes, you can. I believe in you._

That was the last thing Hieronymous had said, almost fifty years ago. He’d believed in Higglemas then. Did he still?

“Maybe we should run,” Higglemas said, breaking the silence of the room as he looked out the window toward the Godscar Chasm. Hiero looked up at him and then rested his head back down on his paws. Higglemas had expected a more vocal response. Hieronymous Wiggenstaff never ran away.

“Hiero?” Higglemas asked, standing up from his chair to kneel down by his brother. “Are you alright?”

Hieronymous didn’t respond. Looking down into his brother’s eyes, Higglemas saw that the spark of _Hieronymous Wiggenstaff_ that had always shone out of them had dulled. It was still there, but it was weaker than it ever had been. 

Painstakingly lowering his aged body down to the floor to sit beside the dog bed, Higglemas didn’t speak for a long while; he didn’t know what to say. Over the last year or so, he’d noticed his brother had started behaving strangely. Whenever they were out in public (back when they _went_ out in public), it had been normal for Hiero to pretend to be like any other dog. They both knew they couldn’t raise anyone’s suspicion, because they never knew who around campus was working for Gray. However, Hieronymous had begun acting like a dog again even when Higglemas was the only one around. It was beginning to be worrisome.

“I’m going to find someone,” Higglemas decided, running a hand down his brother’s flank. The soft warmth grounded and comforted him. _Hiero’s still here_ , he reminded himself. He couldn’t lose him now. “I’m going to find someone to look you over. There’s a Firbolg who’s going to be starting here soon. I’m going to get him to come in and see if he can notice anything wrong with you.” 

Higglemas wasn’t worried that the Firbolg would find something off about Hiero—he was worried he _wouldn’t_. If he didn’t, that would confirm Higglemas’ fears that Hiero was becoming indistinguishable from any other dog. Higglemas couldn’t let that happen. Perhaps he had sat on his haunches for too long. Perhaps he finally needed to turn Hiero back. 

Hiero whined, tilting his head to the side.

“Yes, I know it’s unusual for me to want to talk to someone else,” Higglemas replied, “but Hiero, _Firbolgs can’t lie_! I think this might be the first person we’ll actually be able to trust. He might even be the key to finally escaping Gray.” He continued petting his brother, the dog. Higglemas sighed. “I’m tired, Hiero. I don’t want to live in fear anymore.” 

Hieronymous rested his chin on Higglemas’ legs. He was tired, too. 

As they sat on the floor of Higglemas’ office together, both brothers knew they would have to do something soon; whether that something was fight or flight was yet to be determined. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish Hieronymous had remained a dog for a while longer in canon. Since we don't have that anymore, I hope that we're at least going to get some good bird!Leon interactions.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
